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Fans and Players Riot at South American Soccer Match (Video)

Brawls between fans at sporting events are not terribly uncommon. For that matter, neither are brawls on the field between players. However, what is uncommon are brawls that involve both fans and players. Nevertheless, that is exactly what happened on Tuesday during a soccer match in Paraguay.

Paraguay’s Cerro Porteño was hosting Argentina’s Club Atlético Colón in the second leg of their match-up in the Copa Sudamericana, which, like UEFA’s Europa League, is the second most prestigious club competition in South America.

Porteño won the first match 2-1, then they went up 2-1 68 minutes into the second match, giving them a 4-2 aggregate lead. At that point, with defeat looming large over visiting Colón, the Argentine fans that had made the trip to Paraguay started to get a little rowdy. And of course, by “rowdy,” I mean they started to throw debris at police. This sparked an all-out riot in the stands, then on the field, and tear gas canisters were fired.

Typical soccer match, really.

However, things got really crazy when Colón players headed into the stands to defend their family members and fans who had fallen under attack.

Take a look at the bizarre scene for yourself:

Obviously, with players entering the stands, play had to be halted. And when it resumed 20 minutes later, Colón was reduced to only nine players after two of their players were given red cards for their roles in the riot.

Did I mention that they take their soccer very seriously in South America?

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